ALEXANDRIA, VA — Joyce (Elaine) Ware Knapp, originally of Hanover, NH, passed away peacefully in her sleep at Goodwin House Alexandria in Alexandria, Virginia after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease on April 27, 2019.
Joyce was, the oldest of eight children, was born on May 4, 1932 and reared in Hanover, NH, and graduated from Hanover High School in 1950. She attended La Salle College in Massachusetts and became an RN with a certification in Gerontological Nursing. She became the Director of Nursing at two nursing homes, one in Natick, MA and the other in Framingham, MA. She met her husband, LtCol Lynn Hammond Knapp in Hanover. He was an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve who returned to Dartmouth College after World War II and was recalled to active duty for the Korean War soon after they were married. They moved to California where she lived while he served overseas in the Korean War. After the war they returned to Hanover and subsequently lived in Portland, Maine; Lynchburg, Virginia; Syracuse NY and Holliston, Massachusetts. They eventually retired in Framingham, Massachusetts. After the death of her husband in 1999, she moved to Alexandria, Virginia to be closer to one of her children.
Joyce was the mother of five children, three of whom (Kathleen Anne, Jeffrey Allyn, and Jennifer Ellyn) preceded her death. She is survived by her son Kenneth (Nancy) and her daughter, Rebecca Lewis; her grandchildren, Amelia Knapp (daughter of Jeffrey) and Jolyn Hecht (daughter of Jennifer); and her great grandchildren, Arabella, Alice, and Arthur Hecht. She is also survived by six of her siblings, John Ware, Marjorie Grams, Nancy Kelner, Virginia Austin, Daniel Ware, and Andrew Ware. She was predeceased by her husband, Lynn, and sister, Sandra Schainbaum.
Funeral services were held for Joyce at Christ Church Alexandria, Virginia and Goodwin House Alexandria. Her remains will be interred at Pine Knoll Cemetery in Hanover at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 13, 2019.